A blog by Rumaisa Mohani -
"In the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed" ~ Khalil Gibran

Sunday, January 31, 2010

PAKISTAN GO GREEN ... A tale of passion ...

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Better late than never, I finally tried my hand on something which has taken all my net friends by storm...Blogging ! Well here I am, and of course, with something that has changed not only my life, but many of my friends' lives for ever.....PAKISTAN GOGREEN Campaign (2009). By the grace of Allah, this has proved to be one of the most successful campaigns on the net for Pakistanis. It has created awareness and the sense of belonging among Pakistani netizens, by changing their display pics into green with Pakistani flag.

How PAKISTAN GO GREEN Started? Dear friends, it started with a simple idea to have an identical symbolic display for the Independence Day of Pakistan on 14th August, 2009 by a talented and creative Pakistani, Farhan Masood who, despite knowing the difficult nature of this job of changing the display pics of thousands of people, initiated the work, and asked for help from other graphic designers after doing nearly 800 pics himself in a few days. It was amazing to see dozens of talented graphic designers volunteering to join the cause.

The number of requests was huge making everyone realise that this work needed to be more organised. Pakiology.com started uploads of pics. I came up with the idea of having a facebook fan page . TALAL MASOOD created a website www.gogreenpakistan.com to have a significant presence on the web. The purpose was to keep everyone updated about the work being done by this "Green Team" of approximately 30 members.

On 14th August, 2009, the hardworking designers finally touched the number of 10,000 display pics turned green, in only 22 days. Now the number is 28,000+.

We have a history of people who misused the trust of their fellow citizens, so it was natural, that there were some doubts / reservations in some minds about Go Green too.

Some people raised the question was this all necessary? Cant we use the same efforts and energy for some practical work like helping the poor or underprivileged classes of society?

Later, there were some doubts about the privacy of pictures submitted for change. The pics are deleted just after the change made in them, and are never used for any other purposes. However, people have an option to not to submit pics but only their names can be shown.
Dear friends, please let me say here, we have started a NEW WAY OF THINKING... OF BEING POSITIVE...Its the THINKING that makes people aware of their needs and duties. We, in Pakistan, need to think first, WHAT is needed to be done and HOW?

We need to have an independent THINK TANK culture, where the most talented and experienced citizens contribute their ideas, vision and solutions to problems. We have to start ACTING , but on some pre-set rules, based on extensive research and findings.

Now many individuals and groups are coming up with the messages of hope and Positivity. We are proud to have lit up the candle and the message is spreading much faster than we ever expected.

DID IT START A CENTURY AGO?
If one remembers the history in early 1900s, it were the poets / litterati of Muslims who first started to bring up the issues to the masses silently. The real aggressive movement started after 1909, when first time ppl openly opposed Minto-Morley reforms.. but before that it took 10 years to prepare ppl to even think against their foreign rulers..Please remember, to make strong foundations of any revolution, we have to be patient, prepare and come out with a strong base..
Is it a coincidence that exactly after 100 years, some sincere, honest and hardworking citizens have taken up the cause of reviving the spirit of Patriotism and love of their fellowbeings?
Our forefathers sacrificed their lives and loved ones, just to give a secure future to us. Sometimes it happens in history that some ppl stand up and fight for a cause madly.. and that creates a free country like Pakistan.

I being grand daughter of one of those freedom fighters , can see the same spirit and passion here too. I believe that there are QuaideAzam , Allama Iqbal & all other great leaders in every generation. Just we need to identify them and make them realise their potential & duty.

Why cant we be POSITIVE like Sir Syed, Hasrat Mohani, Zafar Ali Khan, Nawab Salimullah, M Ali Johar, Shaukat Ali, Allama Iqbal, Quaid e Azam? Why do we always have to tell our youth that they are useless and will be beggars one day?
Being POSITIVE is the key to any revolution..AND we believe that Allah helps only those who help themselves.......
Lets start this revolution with the best of intentions ..
Lets make PAKISTAN GO GREEN a symbol of CHANGE FOR THE BETTER !!!

We request you to please join us, invite your friends, guide us and share with us your experiences, if we go wrong anywhere..and help us grow in order to fulfill the dreams of the creators of Pakistan.

Go green was a great campaign and i joined it by my self as in those days i knew no one in social media so i greened my pic by my self but my inspiration was so many green pics i was seeing online, and latter i got chance to meet Talal and Farhan bhai, i can say that this campaign has changed my life and only i know how...